Will nobody ever run the table again? It’s possible

The only reason I'd like to see somebody run the table in the NFL in the very near future? So we can stop hearing about the 1972 Miami Dolphins. 

Mercury Morris, who has been one of the most vocal members of that 17-0 team, doesn't think it's going to happen. Ever again.

Per ESPN.com

"Let me say, I think that it's been so long and that it's happened one time that people still don't get it," Morris said at the Dolphins' training facility. "Some things that happen once in life, they won't happen twice.

"It's strange that the media has a fixation with wanting to see this to happen in their own space so they can say they were part of what they saw in terms of this [1972] team."

That's what I'd expect Morris to say, but is it realistic? 

Look, this record looked unbreakable for quite a while after the Dolphins were unbeaten in '72. Between 1973 and 1997, nobody started better than 12-0 and only six teams started 10-0 or better. The Broncos flirted with history after a 13-0 start in '98, but nobody was able to start better than 9-0 over the next six years.

But between 2005 and 2011, four teams started 13-0 or better. The Colts were 13-0 in '05, the Patriots were 18-0 in '07, the Colts were 14-0 to start the '09 season and the Packers started 13-0 in 2011. 

With that in mind, you'd have to believe that somebody is bound to run the table eventually. 

However, parity has seemed to take on a life of its own the last two years. Nobody was better than 8-0 in 2012 and nobody threatened to make a run at perfection this year. The Chiefs started the season with nine straight wins but we all knew they'd lose some games during the second half of the year. 

Maybe Morris is right. The '72 Dolphins only had to win 17 games in total. The season has expanded since and the "any given Sunday" mantra has only been exacerbated in the age of the salary cap. Now with parity preventing anyone from being too dominant or too lousy for an extended period of time, it's possible we'll have to wait a lot longer for another perfect team.

Maybe forever.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

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